'Peace Clock' Reset After US Nuke Test

The "Peace Watch" clock in the Hiroshima Peace Museum keeps track of the number of days since the last nuclear test and is usually reset to zero after a test occurs. On Monday, it was reset from 705 days to 49 after news of a US nuclear test in November emerged. A US national laboratory document disclosed that a subcritical nuclear test was held in Nevada in November, the Mainichi reports. The exact date was not revealed, so the clock was reset from the last day in November. The National Nuclear Security Administration told NHK that the test, which did not produce an explosion, was called "Nightshade A."

The local government in Hiroshima sent a protest letter to President Trump via the US Embassy, and dozens of people, including survivors of the Aug. 6, 1945 atomic bombing of the city, held a sit-in protest at the museum. This was the first US nuclear test since February 2019 and the third of the Trump administration. Since Trump plans to depart Washington before President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated Wednesday, there will be two "nuclear footballs" with the equipment needed to launch a strike Wednesday morning instead of the traditional handover between military aides, CNN reports. Biden has vowed to "work to bring us closer to a world without nuclear weapons." (More nuclear test stories.)